WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The new leader of the Purdue University faculty body is calling for a survey to help gauge the current campus climate in regards to diversity and inclusion.

At a University Senate meeting Monday, chairman Alberto Rodriguez stressed the importance of conducting a campus-wide survey on diversity, noting the university hasn't released one in more than a decade.

Rodriguez, who said he's the first Latino chairman in the senate's history, shared his personal stories of being disrespected and undervalued by fellow faculty members, despite the fact he is a full professor and the endowed chairman of elementary education.

Based on his experiences, Rodriguez said, it's important to learn how junior faculty members and other faculty of color feel about the campus climate. A survey can help the university better understand the issues and draw specific action plans based on the findings, he said.

"A very significant question we must ask is, 'How are we going to build a more supportive and inclusive Purdue community if we do not dare to identify these oppressive issues and seek to address them honestly and constructively?'" he said to the senate.

Rodriguez said he's working on bringing all the key people together to coordinate questions for the survey, which he'd like to see go out in the spring. He noted Interim Provost Jay Akridge has been very supportive of the plan.

The last time Purdue conducted a survey on diversity among faculty, staff and students was fall 2006.

Respondents described the university's overall climate for diversity as "moderately favorable" and the university's commitment to the issue was generally positive, according to a spring 2007 news release. However, members of underrepresented groups didn't experience the climate as positively and did not view the university as being committed to diversity, equal access and success to the same extent as those in majority groups.

About 40 percent of faculty and students, as well as nearly a quarter of staff, who responded to the survey reported experiences of being recently harassed or discriminated against.

Although the findings are more than a decade old, the Purdue Student Government conducted its own climate survey among students last winter that showed problems persist.

After Rodriguez's report to the senate, PSG President Sam Eschker shared a comment written in a section of the survey in which students could share a story of when they felt the climate was less than adequate.

He said, "One student wrote, 'I'm an Asian American. The international students do not socialize with me because I am not a native Chinese speaker. American students don’t interact with me because they think I'm an international student.'"

"So, just give that some thought," Eschker said to the senate.

Even without a survey, Purdue students and faculty several times in the past couple of years have openly expressed discontent with racially-charged instances that have occurred at the university or with the lack of response from administration after incidents.

In February 2016, an anti-abortion group, Purdue Students For Life, came under fire for posting fliers outside the Black Cultural Center that read, "Black children are an endangered race. Hands up don't abort." The group also chalked messages stating, "Womb = most dangerous place 4 black kids, #blacklivesmatter," on a sidewalk outside the center. The group eventually apologized after students who opposed the messaging organized a sit-in at one of the organization's meetings.